Expat. Living. Observing. Sharing.

Tag Archives: California

Since I moved to Nafplio two years ago I’ve been see-sawing between loving it and hating it. The American lifestyle is but a thing of the past for me – I could never adjust back to the daily grind that I used to live by; but there are times when I sorely miss things that I simply cannot find here in Greece.

I miss my friends. I miss supermarkets being open on Sundays and shops staying open all day for my convenience. I miss international cuisine. I miss Target so much. I miss Peet’s Coffee. I miss Barnes & Noble. I miss the organization of state services – knowing that when I go to the DMV I will be helped. I miss organized city planning – working stop lights, visible stop signs, all the things that make it easy to go from Point A to Point B.

Then I take a walk through Nafplio and I change my mind. It actually is pretty damn great to live here despite some of its shortcomings. I’m incredibly lucky to live here.

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival.” – C. S. Lewis

I don’t make friends very easily. It’s not a recent development; I’ve just always been like that. Even as a young child in elementary school I recall being the “outsider”. Hanging out with the girls in my class during breaks I would lay low and just listen. Always the observer, rarely the participant. It makes it hard to create enduring friendships. I guess I’ve always appreciated having a few good friends that I know well rather than a big group of friends that I don’t know much about. Often times I get bored with people’s bullshit. I’d rather entertain myself than listen to their crap. Maybe there’s an anti-social gene in me, who knows…Then again if those people were actual friends then I wouldn’t get bored of them, would I?

Here in Greece I’ve found it really hard to make good friends. Outside of Athens people tend to get too involved in your business, gossip about you, bring out jealousies and envy and generally act like passive-aggressive biotches. It’s that small town mentality. The city, as ugly and hectic as it is, offers a layer of protection from the ugly side of the “acquaintance” – everybody is too busy and stressed to deal with inconsequential things. And I say acquaintances and not friendships because if it is a friendship then the jealousy, the gossip et al. shouldn’t even surface. Perhaps frenemies is the word I’m looking for. Yes – all I see here are frenemies, not friends. I haven’t met anyone save for a handful of people that are worth pursuing friendships with. We just don’t click. There’s no chemistry.

Living in Greece has made me appreciate my friends back in the States. I miss my friends that I’ve known since high school, people that know you so well they can finish your sentences (Hi Noms and Lou Lou!); and I miss the friends that I made through work, lovely people that are joyous and happy and are just nice, and you can have a normal conversation with them about Grey’s Anatomy or food or the movies and you don’t resort to shit talking (Hi TT gang!). It took a while to reconnect with them, I must admit. I moved and kind of disappeared for about a year. I got caught up in my new surroundings, the new people – it was not the most honorable behavior on my part, I must admit. Looking back now I really truly hate that I was incognito for so long. But my friends took me back with so much joy (as much as they could muster?) and really, I appreciate it more than anything.

So here are some pictures of some of my friends! (I hope said friends don’t mind!) It’s not all of them, because unfortunately a lot of my pics with them are currently living in my PC back in California. DRAT!

What I do know is that the friendships and connections that I have really do mean a lot to me. I may disappear into my own little shell at times, but at the end of the day, without those connections there really is not much to life, is there?

My little Lou-lou, aka Kate the Great

You can really only do this shit with friends - otherwise people think you're a weirdo.

Famous Raymond at his best - at a bar with a drink in his hand.

DB Sweeney and JL never looked so good...

Friends don't let friends party alone on the party bus. Manolicious and Byrony to the rescue!

Friends also are there to help you get through the stress of family weddings! Kate, Naomi and Noni out to keep us sane...